The fax machine was invented before the telephone.

The fax machine was invented before the telephone.

Scottish inventor Alexander Bain is often credited with the first fax patent in 1843. The first telephone call was 1876.  His fax machine transmitter was designed to scan a flat surface (made of metal) using a stylus mounted on a pendulum; the stylus picked up the images on the surface. An amateur clock maker, Alexander Bain adapted parts from clock mechanisms combined with telegraph technology to invent his fax machine.